From: The evolution of headache from childhood to adulthood: a review of the literature
Authors (year) | Type of study | Ages | Headache type | Headache evolution | Other symptoms, findings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Guidetti et al. [15] | prospective, 8-year follow-up | age 12–26 yrs., (mean age 17.9 yrs.) | M, TTH | - 26.5% of the patients with M changed to TTH. | - high rate of headache remission in males. |
- 8.3% with TTH changed to M. | |||||
- 45% showed improvement, 34% were headache free, 15% unchanged, 6% worsened. | |||||
Hernandez-Latorre et al. [38] | 10-year prospective longitudinal study | >6 ≥ 10 yrs. | M | - favorable evolution among children with headache started after 6 yrs. | |
- 88% favorable clinical course; 12% placed on prophylactic treatment. | |||||
Brna et al. [39] | prospective, 20-year follow-up | mean age 11.1 yrs. | M, TTH | - 66% improvement | - triggers of headache: stress, sleep deprivation, bright light, certain foods. |
- more TTH remission | - 38% motion sickness | ||||
- 45% with mild headaches were headache free at 20 years; | - 13% rushes sensory disturbance | ||||
- 18% with moderate/severe headaches were headache free at 20 yrs | - 7% Alice in Wonderland syndrome | ||||
- 72% with moderate/severe headaches continued to have moderate or severe headaches at 20 yrs. | |||||
Balottin et al. [40] | prospective, 4.2-year follow-up | < 6 yrs. | M, TTH | - headache persistence in the minority of cases associated with detection of somatic and psychiatric disorders. | - |
Kienbacher et al. [12] | prospective | 17.6 ± 3.1 yrs. | M, TTH | - 25.7% were headache free, 48.6% still M and 25.7% still TTH at the follow-up. | - unfavorable outcome: longer time between headache onset and first consultation |
- good prognosis: changing headache location at baseline and long clinical follow-up | |||||
Kelman et al. [42] | cross- sectional study, retrospective analysis | mean age 37.7 ± 11.7 yrs | M | - new headache triggers: hormones, alcohol, smoking, neck pain; | - stress as a trigger, photophobia, phonophobia and dizziness, decrease with age; |
- shift in headache location toward the neck. | - decrease in the strength of attacks, and reduced need to sleep or rest during headache | ||||
- increase in rhinorrhea and lacrimation | |||||
Virtanen et al. [43] | prospective, controlled study | 6-13 yrs | M, TTH | - 1/2 of M unchanged at 6 yrs; 32% changed to TTH. | - osmophobia, dizziness and balance disturbances became more typical with age |
- TTH unchanged in 35%; 38% changed to M. | - restlessness, flushing and abdominal symptoms became less marked. | ||||
- at preschool age the location of headache was bilateral and | |||||
- supraorbital; at puberty bilateral and temporal. | |||||
Gaßmann et al. [44] | prospective, 4-year longitudinal study | 8-15 yrs | M, TTH | - M more frequent in girls than boys, and this difference increased significantly with age. | |
- TTH dropped from 57% among 8-year-olds to 45.6% among 15-year-olds. | |||||
- M increased with age from 10 to 17.1%. | |||||
Slater et al. [45] | prospective, retrospective | mean age 11.7 ± 3.6 | M | - early onset of headache in boys | - higher levels of disability as shown by PedMIDAS and no. of missed schooldays in girls. |
- boys’ headache: squeezing at the top of the head; sharp pain at the back of the head | - older children were more disabled. | ||||
- girls reported frontal and temporal headache, and pain in the back of the head; pain: throbbing, pressure, constant and sharp. | |||||
- girls experienced more frequent and longer mean duration of headaches. | |||||
- older children reported greater headache frequency. | |||||
Ozge et al. [46] | prospective, longitudinal, school-based six-year interval analysis | 8-18 5562 children of whom 1155 followed up as adolescents | M, TTH | - childhood headache persists in adolescence, although the diagnoses mostly (71.3%) changed over time. | - PedMIDAS score higher in subjects with parents with headache history |
- M prevalence increased from 10.4% in childhood to 18.6% to adolescence in the same study sample after a 6-year interval. | - No supportive correlation with BMI MOH frequency 13.0% with migraine and high PedMIDAS score predominance | ||||
- Headache prevalence increased with advancing age, especially in females; stress factors were the most important determinants. | |||||
- M negatively affects daily living activities in adolescents. | |||||
Wöber- Bingol et al. [47] | cross- sectional study, retrospective analysis | 3- 69 yrs | M with or without aura | - decrease in headache prevalence from childhood to adulthood in males | - aggravation by physical activity found to be decreased with age. |
- increasing of headache duration with age, prevalence of unilateral and pulsating pain, photo and phonophobia in girls. | - aura more frequent among ages 15–40 years | ||||
- no gender differences in aura symptoms. | |||||
Maytal et al. [10] | retrospective | 18 yrs or younger | CH | - clinical features of CH in childhood similar to those in adults. | -changes in associated symptoms over the years in a small number of patients |
- increase in frequency and duration of cluster periods with age in 40%. | |||||
- decrease in duration of cluster periods in 6% | |||||
- short cluster periods in 23% of patients in childhood and in 6% of patients in adulthood. | |||||
- CH shifted sides in one patient. | |||||
Lampl [31] | epidemiological + 1 case report | 7 years | CH | - no data about evolution of headache | - no differences between childhood and adolescent CH with regard to type of pain, associated symptoms and predominance in males. |
- frequency and duration may increase or remain unchanged over time if pts are untreated | |||||
- although brief remissions may occur, spontaneous resolution of CH is rare. | |||||
Antonaci et al., [48] | case report and literature review | case of an 11-year-old boy | CH | - first bout 8 months; second bout 2 months, with the same pain characteristics. | |
- this patient as a ‘variant’clinical picture | |||||
Arruda et al. [49] | prospective case report | 9, 12 and 13 yrs | CH | - no differences between childhood and adult CH regarding frequency and duration | |
- good response to indomethacin in two cases; | |||||
- sustained long-term medical and/or spontaneous remission occurred in two patients. |